


Animal, Person...Or Dragon

by welshcanadian16



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Adventure & Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-04-30 01:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5145785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/welshcanadian16/pseuds/welshcanadian16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucy Heartfilia's car broke down and she is now lost, roaming around in the dark woods, alone. Dismally, something is lurking in the shadows within close proximity. Is it an animal, person...or dragon? What happens when both of them are pushed into a magical realm? (Intertwining Fairy Tales) AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

** Animal, Person…Or Dragon **

**_Goldilocks_ ** **_: That one is too hot! That one is too cold! That one is just right!_ **

Goldilocks and the dragon, princess and knight

She could see the mist overwhelming the mountain range's peaks from the forest that welcomed her below with its outstretched branches. Dusk had already come to pass quite some time ago. Roaming around on her lonesome, in the dark of the night, was not safe for a woman. More importantly, a beautiful young blonde.

Her many keys— mostly decorative— dangled at her waist, attached to her belt. They jingled with every step she took. Lucy Heartfilia had no inkling of where she was. She was getting more and more nervous every time a second flew by. Her sense of direction was lacking and the wild did not accommodate a hot, steamy bath and a good book, much to Lucy's dismay.

The reason for the woman's dangerous predicament was completely due to her car braking down. The gas tank had run dry from the hole that she had not known she had. The most reasonable thing for any stranded person to do without an extra can of fuel in the trunk or cellphone service, was to stay on the main road and try to find the nearest petrol station. Or at least remain in the car with the hazards flicking, waiting for another vehicle to pass by.

Tactlessly, Lucy decided to take the dark, scary scenic route; the forest. She didn't think it her fault for getting lost. She thought she had seen a bear whilst she was checking her engine…so she fled. Her mind was actually playing tricks with her frenzied state for the bear was truly an oddly shaped berry bush. Nevertheless, Lucy didn't stop running until a few minutes later. That was when the chance of finding her way back to her little blue automobile (that she named Plue) had gotten thrown out the window.

Now she was stranded, lost beyond a measure of a doubt. Lucy had already given up trying to find her way, and now she was sitting on a large rock, head encased in her unsteady hands. She was mumbling somewhat in an understandable one-worded chant. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." She repeated for the umpteenth time, voice whispering, shaking her head vigorously side to side. It seemed Lucy shaking her head was a sign of not accepting the dilemma she had unwittingly put herself in.

As she sat on the rock, she pondered. The blonde's mind was on the reason why she was driving in an underpopulated area, on the road of one of Newfoundland's (Canada) more southern boreal forests in the first place. The woman was certain bears and wolves surmounted the human population in this area of the province by a land slide.

It was all for her work, you see she was a striving author, trying to be noticed in the literary world. Even though it was a tough world to live in for beginner writers, she still loved it. Writing was her dream, the goal in life she wanted to attain without any help from others. She needed to see the sweat on her brow to acknowledge victory. Lucy wanted to work hard for it, not jump three steps ahead without doing anything. Miss Heartfilia reasonably judged other women who used their beauty and flirtatious charms to accomplish and gain things they did not deserve— when others did. She was a virtuous woman, nothing or no one could ever change that.

Lucy had recently finished her first ever novel; a murder mystery. It was full of riveting suspense and of course…murder. For the past couple of months, the chocolate brown eyed writer had been showing her manuscript to many publishing companies and finally got a call from M.M.M publishing incorporated in Newfoundland. The enterprise was quite popular throughout Canada and the United-States. She suspected that the three 'Ms' stood for mystery, mayhem and murder. They were right up her alley. Nothing put her on edge more than those three topics, and for that...she loved it.

Lucy was ecstatic, the company wanted to publish her book, so they asked her to come and fill out the papers and sign the contract to make it official, but the problem was that Lucy lived in Montreal. However, she found her way around the obstacle. She took a plane and then rented a car—the blue one she had named for the fun of it—to get to her destination. Once checked into her hotel, the only one she could find at a reasonable price, she bought a map and set out to M.M.M publishing incorporated. Along the way, she made a wrong turn unknowingly and now she was here, on a rock.

Lucy pulled out her cellphone, holding it up into the air, trying hard to find a signal, even standing on the rock didn't raise the signal bars. When she needed it the most, her phone was useless. Out of anger, she chucked her phone to the ground, yet then regretted it for she then picked it up, trying to fix the shattered device. Now she was without a cellphone.

Resonating from the deep thick woods, noises were heard: rustling in the bushes, twigs being trudged upon, melancholic howls emanating from the turbulent winds and owls crying out into the night. The hairs on the back of Lucy's neck stood upright. She felt like a presence was eying her, lurking in the shadows of the night. It was the first time in her young life that she feared for her life. Being attacked by a ferocious animal was not the way she wanted to go.

She tried to comfort herself, saying that she was just being irrational, the research she did for her novel was making her think too much about murder. Soothing her self-doubts about being logical was not working and Heartfilia started to look around, searching for anything or anyone who may be hidden in the shadows. Nothing came to her eye, but she was sure something was close by.

Colour drained from her face, she wanted so badly to get out of there, crawl inside her safe bed and stay there for a while. Sadly, hiding was not an option.

Lucy mustered up all her courageous strength and continued walking through the woods, hopping down from the rock she was perched on. She concluded that she had more chance of encountering the answer for her problem by moving on. Other than staying in one spot, feeling sorry for herself.

Her pace stayed quick and steady as she trekked through muddy ground, not looking back and regretting having worn expensive shoes adorned with a small heel. Not straying from the direction she was heading in (which was north), the writer found herself walking for a lengthy period. In reality, it had only been a dozen minutes. Apparently, Lucy did not tend to wear watches, so her sense of time was not superb.

Feet aching, she wanted to rest, but she was too afraid to take a break for she still thought something was out there, observing her. "RRROOOOAAAARRRR!" A thundering loud noise echoed, hitting the mountain tops, terrifying the poor young woman out of her wits.

For a moment, she felt like she transitioned into a Fairy Tale land; she was positive she heard a dragon. Thinking that was preposterous, but a bear or any other woodland creature couldn't make that loud roar. Heartfilia knew it wasn't a dragon, but it certainly sounded like one; fierce and flamboyant.

Suddenly she was running, as far away from the roar as imaginable, trying to find somewhere she could hide…out of harm's way. She felt like a princess, running away from her captor; the fire breathing, gold hoarding dragon. The only difference was that she wasn't wearing a long beautiful dress and…dragons didn't exist. They were only a myth, superstition. Whatever the case, she didn't want to be the damsel in distress. Unless a knight in shining armor was in her story, ready to slay, conquer and rescue. Desolately, life wasn't a Fairy Tale, nowhere near it in fact.

Out of pure luck, she came across a quaint yellow cottage with a brick chimney and some decorative elements around the door and walls. The roof was covered with red tiles. It looked quite run-down, obviously had been empty for years. Adding that it was surrounded by messy overgrown plants, the roof was a catastrophe; covered in moss, and a tree was protruding out of the chimney pot. Growing vines snaked around the whole building, making it look suffocated. The front rotten wooded gate— accompanied by dead dried grass—lay flat on the ground. The hinges had corroded and became unstable, making the weight of the wooden gate break them. Stepping over the collapsed gate, Lucy continued on to the splinter infested maroon door.

Now this reminded her of the fable of Goldilocks and the three bears. Everything fitted. A gold haired female entering a strange unknown house, curious to what is inside. Albeit bears do not own houses, or are able to prepare porridge.

Legs slightly shaking, she tried the door knob and the door open easily. Only with a slight creaking noise. The interior wasn't as messy as the exterior. Yet, it was still disorderly as a teenage boy's room. Contrary to her beliefs, it seemed someone did live in the little yellow house...and with a pet. Seen amidst many food wrappers and dirty clothes, a small blue cat lazily lay on a hammock which both of its extremities were nailed to opposite ends of the walls, in the back corner.

The young adult felt sorry for the cat. Firstly for living in such a pigsty and secondly for being dyed blue (probably the owners fault). Ignoring the sleeping ball of fur, she glanced around the rest of the room, for there was only one. Many posters, pieces of scrap paper and other bits and bobs hung on the walls. A lot of them showing pictures of dragons, princesses or fearless knights. The person who lived there had a fetish for the mythical middle-ages, where children's stories about dragons and princesses originated.

On the right hand side, a large mahogany bookcase filled up the whole wall. As suspected, the books all talked about fictional dragon stories. She opened a few, looking at the pictures or sifting through the pages. Strangely, they all had untraditional twists: dragon eats knight, dragon saves princess, princess falls in love with dragon, cowardly knight runs from battle, courageous knight gets burnt to a crisp...and many more.

Whoever inhibited the house intrigued Lucy profoundly, but she didn't want to be caught red handed, sneaking into their house. She just needed to stay in there for a small amount of time. After she found a phone and called for help, she would get out. All she needed was a phone...that functioned.

She looked, searched, rummaged and ransacked, trying to find something she could use to call for help. Her search was useless, nothing in the house was of use. Letting out a long exasperated sigh, she threaded her nimble fingers through her golden locks, falling onto the small couch on the opposite end of the bookcase.

She glanced at a clock (shaped as a fairy with a tail) that hung by the door. The big hand wavered a little over the three and the small hand wavered on the two. It was 2:17 AM. No wonder her eyes began to gently close without her consent. As the woman fell asleep soundly, it seemed she really was beginning to inherit the persona of Goldilocks. She was sleeping in someone else's house. All that was needed to end this Fairy Tale was the three bears coming home from their stroll...or maybe an animal, person...or dragon?


	2. Hansel and a Blue Kitten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy Heartfilia's car broke down and she is now lost, roaming around in the dark woods, alone. Dismally, something is lurking in the shadows within close proximity. Is it an animal, person...or dragon? What happens when both of them are pushed into a magical realm? (Intertwining Fairy Tales) AU

_And thus the two children made a trail of breadcrumbs..._

The man had come home from a successful all night hunt. He managed to kill enough food for the rest of the week. He even had time to get a little fishing in before deciding to go home. The pink haired guy knew how happy his pet cat named Happy would be when he came back. The taste of juicy fish according to the feline species was the most appealing and tempting snack to ever tingle their taste buds.

Hunting and fishing weren't the most interesting activity he did that night, he was more preoccupied staring at a beautiful blonde haired angel. Natsu, who had lived in the forest all his life, didn't have any communication skills with…anyone. The cottage was the only place he lived in since his father left him in the woods, with a small blue kitten in a basket.

His father told him that he was just leaving for a little while, to stay put and wait for him. Sadly, he never came back, leaving his twelve year old son in the forest alone. Even today, Natsu still waited for him in the cottage, thinking his dad would come back one day. That was the reason why he never left the forest. He didn't want to miss the return of his dad. It made him think of the story of Hansel and Gretel, where there father left them in the forest. The difference was that Natsu didn't get to roast a witch, didn't have a sister, and didn't have the pleasure of eating a candy house.

Before the young man's dad left, his dad was a woodcutter, earning enough money to take care of him and his son. Barely scraping through. They resided in the yellow cottage and Natsu's father taught him all the techniques about hunting and everything else he needed to know about living in the wild.

Now the happy life with his dad was gone, but he still had Happy, swearing to take care of him forever. He was an odd pink haired guy, having a cat for his best friend. However, he did not seem to care or find it weird for a grown man to have a feline companion.

Nothing had ever peaked his interest as much as watching the strange blonde woman walking in the forest, in the dark. He didn't want her to see him, so he hid, aimlessly glancing at her with intrigue, wondering what she was going to do next. Natsu, you could say, was quite dense up above. He seemed not to realise that the lady was in trouble, lost. All he was thinking about was if she was a mystical fairy or a princess. He had a thorough imagination, sometime a little too eccentric.

Throughout his many years of solitude, only including his cat, he became overly interested in the many Fables of fantasy, centering more specifically on the dragon species. It was impossible to comprehend why, perhaps because Natsu found that his long lost dad had the personality of a dragon, making him love the reptilian species even more. His dad was fierce at some times, expert huntsman and had a fiery hot gentle heart. Indeed, the aspects of a dragon...so books say.

Although in the numerous Greek, Roman, British and Middle-Age tales, dragons were seen and written as the enemy. Natsu Dragneel perceived them as marvellous, heroic fire breathing creatures who rescued everybody from evil. He had a whole different view of them. It made him sad somehow; knowing that a person had just made them up. No chance of them being real and encountering one for himself.

He always wanted an adventure or something different to happen to him, and now, there was a girl roaming around in the dense forest. Looking out from a shrub he was camouflaged behind, he could see the blonde beauty, around his age, sitting on a rock. She looked disgruntled, unhappy and annoyed at the same time, chucking her device to the floor in a burst of anger. Natsu continued to stare wide eyed, staying crouched. Accidently, a leaf frolicked along the proximity of his nostrils, feeling the ticklish feeling enter his sinuses. He could not contain the sneeze inside, some allergies were hard to contain.

"RRROOOAAARRR!" His sneeze was one of a kind. Every time his spring allergies began to work up in his house, Happy would cling to the ceiling, fearing for his life. If the cat had wings, he would probably zoom out the window.

Clutching and wiping his nose with his sleeve, the girl look terrified and started running for her life. Dragneel had tried to find her, but to no avail; he lost sight of her. Feeling down for ruining his chance to speak to her, he went back to his hunt, still on the lookout for the intriguing woman.

The morning sun rose and the fresh dew grew heavy in the air, condensing on the greenery. Yawning, Natsu entered his small cottage, ready for breakfast with Happy. He did not know a snoring guest was sleeping on his couch. It came a shock to him when he saw the woman from last night in his house, dreaming with Happy curled up next to her. He had no inkling of what to do. Albeit that it was his house, he dared not kick her out and he didn't want to wake her. The face she was making was too cute for words. Her snoring was a little loud, but her peaceful face balanced the loudness out.

Not finding a solution, he scratched his head, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to her; just thinking (if it was possible for him to sit still). A few minutes trotted by slowly for Natsu, and began to tap his foot on the ground repeatedly. After that he started to fiddle around with his black and white scaled scarf, securely fastened around his neck. He never took it off, it was the only possession of his dad's he had left. His impatience was overwhelming his tolerance too greatly. He had to eat breakfast. He felt that his stomach was about to shrivel away from the lack of food and water. When Nastu was hungry, he couldn't focus on anything else. When he wasn't thinking about Happy, his father or dragons, he thought about food. Those four topics were the only things on his mind; every day. Until a certain Goldilocks came along.

Leaving the woman's side, he went to prepare himself and Happy something to eat. Cooking wasn't his strong suit, but his favorite dish was meat and he didn't care how it was cooked. The only thing he needed to know was that what he was eating was the juicy flavour of mammal.

He glanced over his broad shoulder to the still sleeping blonde while fixing a plate of fish for Happy and a nice steak for himself. Breakfast time was usually light and healthy, but to Natsu it was just any other meal like lunch or dinner.

Now sitting at his small table for one, he set the fish dish on the floor and immediately Happy rushed up to it purring gloriously. Nibbling and sucking on it, like it was something so precious that it deserved to be cherished.

Digging into his meal, his mind was somewhere else. Figuring out who the woman was and why she was in his house. He then looked at Happy and remembered how they were cuddled up together before he came back. Happy seemed to like her, so he decided to like her too.

It was plausible that the salmon haired boy had fewer neurones than everyone else for some of his decisions were made because of his cat's love for certain objects or people. Once, because his cat loved to groom himself with his tongue, Dragneel desired to try it himself. He coughed up pink hair balls for a week. He didn't do it again.

After breakfast, the girl still hadn't woken up. She was quite a heavy sleeper. Natsu still didn't have the balls to wake her up, he didn't know what to say if he did. Instead of worrying, he removed a book from his collection and flipped to a certain page. It contained a beautiful water paint drawing of a princess. Its name was _Celestial Spirit Queen_. He held the book next to Lucy's face. Looking back and forth. The woman on his couch looked like the splitting image of the fictional _Celestial Spirit Queen._ How queer.

He chucked the book on the table, making a loud "BANG". That's when Lucy began to stir. Natsu staggered when he heard a slight grumble and an almost inaudible sentence flow out of Lucy's mouth. " _Mother…don't wake me up…I'm sleeping."_

Natsu went to her and stuck his face right next to hers, not understanding that it would probably scare the hell out of her when she would wake up. Opening her eyes to see a stranger towering over her—especially a man—could make her think pervert, axe murderer or kidnapper. All three of them were hardly joyful to think about.

Lucy's eyes flickered open and a piercing, ear bleeding scream was heard. It was quite a creepy way of meeting someone for the first time…


	3. Dumb Blond Riding Hood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy Heartfilia's car broke down and she is now lost, roaming around in the dark woods, alone. Dismally, something is lurking in the shadows within close proximity. Is it an animal, person...or dragon? What happens when both of them are pushed into a magical realm? (Intertwining Fairy Tales) AU

_**Wolf:**_ _You know, my dear, it isn't safe for a little girl to walk through these woods alone..._

...

The scream lasted all of Lucy's breath. The delinquent face in front of her made her heart fail rapidly. It didn't help that the guy donned spikey pink hair. Her eyes widened and she sat up, briskly sitting the farthest away from him as possible. She found herself at a loss of words, but she didn't mind. Something about this stranger made her trust him slightly, she was still irritated but somewhat uncomfortably relaxed.

"Why are you in my house?" The young man asked, staring puzzlingly at her. Natsu wasn't aware how foreword he acted and that he was scaring Lucy.

"S...sorry!" Lucy spluttered still quite drowsy from just waking up, uncomfortable for the stranger did not comprehend personal space. Shifting in her seat, she looked everywhere but in his eyes. She felt somewhat guilty, breaking into his house and even worse, sleeping on his couch.

"My name's Natsu Dragneel." He stretched out his hand, gently giving Lucy a handshake. "What's yours?" Natsu's eyes felt like they were searing into Lucy's brain, waiting for an answer.

She hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether she should trust the odd man in front of her...and his soft blue cuddly cat. "Lucy..." She whispered, audible to Natsu only because of his close proximity. Lucy needn't say anything else, but Natsu still kept glaring at her, pressing her to say her last name also. She let the breath that she didn't know she kept in and answered. Natsu did tell her his last name, so now it was deemed mandatory to tell him hers. She intended to stay polite with the man. Although, she wanted to scream at him for invading her personal bubble and almost bequeathing her a light stroke.

"...Heartfilia...its Lucy Heartfilia." She said with a louder more trustworthy tone, shaking his hand friendlier that before. Natsu repeated her name, mouthing it slowly and pronouncing every syllable. When he was done, he looked satisfied, sitting on the couch next to her while Happy crawled into his lap and dozed off again. It wasn't surprising; on average, cats sleep fifteen hours a day.

"That's a weird name...but I like it" He grinned at Lucy, petting Happy at the same time. "What do you think Happy?" Lucy tried not to laugh, but Natsu sure was bizarre. "It's decided, you will be my friend." Natsu declared, proud of himself, Lord knows why.

The blonde's mouth just hung wide open, surprised how forward and childish he was acting. She never had a guy her age ask to be friends. They were either chatting her up, asking her out or using her to get closer to one of her 'pretty' female friends. Men were usually utterly stereotypical, thinking that all blond women were stupid enough to go on a date with them. She despised blond jokes, especially the one about Little Red Riding Hood:

_There was a blonde in the forest walking on little Red Riding hood's trail when she spots the bad wolf. She tells him, 'Hey bad wolf, I see you and I'm not scared!' So the wolf runs away, but a few minutes later she spots him hidden in the forest again and tells him, 'Hey bad wolf, I see you and I'm not scared!' So the wolf runs away again, but after a few minutes she spots him hiding behind a tree again, and yells to him 'Sorry wolfie, I still see you and I am not scared.' The wolf sighs, shakes his head and says 'Geez, is there no place I can go to the bathroom without you watching me?'_

She had to admit, most people would laugh at this joke, even though it was rather lame. She couldn't grasp the reason why people —at such an extent— found dumb blond puns funny.

In the beginning she would have thought Natsu one of those stereotypical guys, but his voice sounded sincere and face genuine. She had no idea what he saw in her to want to be friends with a complete stranger. A lot of unanswered questions flooded through her brain. None of them she could figure out herself.

All that came out of her mouth after Natsu's statement was; "O...ok?" She said, quizzically.

A large grin formed on Dragneel's visage, showing his giddiness like that of a schoolboy, not peeping a word. Quietness swept in, surrounding both new found friends. Staring was all they could accomplish before finding the right words to rekindle their diminishing half awkward conversation.

"So what's up with your keys?" Natsu was the first to commence, pointing at her keys still hanging off from her brown belt; a little lighter than the colour of her irises.

"They're magic keys! Allowing the holder to summon magical Fairy Tale creatures!" Lucy exclaimed, flinging her arms in the air for a more dramatic effect, smirking whole-heartedly. She was being a hundred percent sarcastic, but Natsu didn't catch on...at all.

"Really. So cool! Do you have a dragon key?" The dragon lover cried awestruck, believing every word that came out of Lucy's silver tongued mouth without a doubt. His eyes searched frantically at her keys, pondering which of the ones could summon a dragon, a unicorn, or perhaps a dwarf.

"Dense Idiot! I was just playing with you! I can't believe you fell for that!" She burst out in hysterical laughter, beginning to act more herself around him subconsciously. "They are just decorative keys. I like to collect them, I find them cute." She continued widening her explanation.

"What?...it does make more sense...but wouldn't you like it to be true? That life could be magical at times?" He looked a bit sad, but then perked up when he asked her opinion with a question.

"Well, sometimes I like to think about things out of my usual thinking box, but more when I need to find inspiration for my writing." The blonde said, thinking about her answer. It was true, on a few occasions...perhaps more often than she noticed, she did wonder off into the imaginary realm, getting into the head of the characters she had created for her murder mystery novel. She enjoyed figuring out why and how the victim was killed and what was the motive of the killer. Money, vengeance, love...spontaneous burst of anger? The possibilities were infinite. It made her feel a little more alive, while writing and imagining what her characters would do next. How the victim might feel or react, leading up to their eventual death or murder. If there would be a love story or a suspenseful one. The ideas and questions were the things that made her brain work a little faster.

"What writing? Are you a famous author?!" Natsu looked excited, as he always looked...most of the time.

"No, no, I haven't even published my book yet." Lucy looked flattered at Natsu's remark, looking down at her hands She then looked up, back into the man's handsome irises. He looked so interested in what she was saying. Most men just pretended to listen, not really caring. She liked that about him. It was a plus that he was quite handsome. She was attracted to him...one way or another. She had just not realised it yet.

"Why do you live alone, in the woods?" She asked him.

"Because I'm waiting for my dad to come back." He answered, a flicker of sadness, but also hope sparked in his eyes for a moment, just long enough for Lucy to notice. She decided not to push. It looked personal.

"Why did you barge into my house?" He asked seriously, enjoying having a proper conversation with someone other than his cat.

"My car broke down...and I got lost." The blonde felt a bit stupid, getting lost in the woods. She didn't tell him about thinking she saw a bear. It was too embarrassing. "Sorry about that...you know...about barging into your house."

"Nah, its fine. I got to meet you right." Natsu gleamed, he found Lucy interesting. Weird, but beautiful. Inside and out.

"Do you have a phone? So I can all a tow truck?"

"Don't have one. Never needed it." Natsu shrugged. Electronic devices made him feel uncomfortable. He thought they would give him shocks if he held one of them.

"How will I ever leave this forest! I need to get to my appointment! WAIT...I'M ALREADY LATE...TOO LATE! Lucy screamed, cupping her hands in her face. A few tears daring to fall.

Natsu didn't know what to do. He didn't know how delicate women's emotions were. Especially how to comfort them. Words were never his strong suit. So he used his arms, pulling her into a warm hug.

"It'll be fine. There's a small town not far from here. I go there sometimes. I'll bring you. However you could stay for a little while longer...I haven't had guests in a long time and we all need company sometimes." The hug was short but sincerely warm for both of them, but they let go. Hugging for a little time longer would become highly ill at ease. For both parties.

Lucy sighed, out of relief and hopefulness. She contemplated whether she should stay a little longer. She to admit, she was enjoying herself as much as Natsu. She never felt so connected to anyone.

"Fine, but only for a few more hours. I have a publishing company to apologise to." She was surprised at herself for choosing to spend a couple more hours with a almost-stranger rather than accomplishing her dream of publishing a mystery book. It baffled her immensely.

"Great! I should show you all my books about dragons! They fascinate me with their large wing span and especially the amount of fire they can breathe out..." The salmon haired boy started to ramble on about the description of dragons, depicting every little thing about them. Getting bored after twenty minutes, she stopped him.

"Yes, I know you are fascinated about dragons." She rolled her eyes at him. She then motioned her hand at the entire house. "What about being fascinated about cleaning your house? It's a mess!" Her eyebrows went up, he didn't care one bit about the sloppiness of his accommodation. She smirked, she needed to add one last thing to change his mind.

"Think about poor Happy." She rested her hand on his lap, shaking her head dramatically, making her look like she was thinking of the cat's misfortune. That did the trick...oh how conniving she was. She made a boy decide to clean his room.


	4. Snow White's Cleaning Frenzy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy Heartfilia's car broke down and she is now lost, roaming around in the dark woods, alone. Dismally, something is lurking in the shadows within close proximity. Is it an animal, person...or dragon? What happens when both of them are pushed into a magical realm? (Intertwining Fairy Tales) AU

_**Evil Queen:** Now my dear...one bite and all your dreams will come true..._

"Think about Happy...what an unfortunate cat." She rested her hand on his lap, shaking her head dramatically, making her look like she was thinking of the cat's misfortune.

"What's wrong with happy?" Natsu looked frantic, needing to know the reason for Happy's affliction. Lucy's eyes softened for a juncture, finding the affection for his cat sweet. She shook her head, her heart was getting fairly too mushy for her taste. She continued with her conniving plan for Natsu to clean up a bit.

"Look around you! It looks like a tornado swept through this area! It's bad for a cat to live in this mess, and you." She exclaimed.

Natsu's heart fluttered. Nobody had ever cared about his health or needs before; it felt nice. He looked around the room, not really caring about the junk flung on the floor, or the moldy food sitting in his fridge. Natsu also knew that Happy didn't care one bit either, so he decided to do it for Lucy.

The problem with Natsu cleaning was that he had never done it before in his life. Without parents, he was never forced to. It was the job of a parent to keep their child in line...that's what they said to their kids whenever they were mad at them.

The boy's strategy was collecting everything off the floor and misplaced items to soon after stuff them under his couch or in the only closet he had. Natsu seemed delighted. It didn't even take him more than five minutes. Lucy, on the other hand was trying to keep her sang-froid. She would have to clean up herself. Natsu was useless.

"I guess I'll have to be your personal cleaner...but only for today. Watch what I do so next time you can do it yourself. Now step aside and let me clean." She told Natsu, with sterness and seriousness in the tone of her voice. It appeared she took the art of cleaning passionately. It was going to be hard for Natsu, the blonde's anger accumulated whilst she cleaned. It was like anger management for her. A way to get rid of all her nervousness and bottled up feelings. She was a pro at cleaning, she dusted, swept, mopped until her apartment was pristine. She had a few too many stressful emotions bottled up from her writing, family problems or even everyday life.

The dragon enthusiast obeyed what the weird woman said, kind of getting a bit afraid of her. Watching her clean was like watching her go on a scary rampage. A cleaning frenzy. He tried to remember everything she was doing. In the middle, he even took out a pen and pad, writing down notes, like he was a student in college. His handwriting was that of a child, and it was even hard for Natsu to comprehend what he had wrote.

Whilst Nastu was writing, Lucy started cleansing her friend's house. She started to throw out every food wrapper, moldy food, and anything else without usefulness. It was typically almost everything on his wooden floor. Some underwear she had to throw out as well. She was baffled and disgusted at the amount of holes it had. The key collector had to use gloves for that filthy job.

Next, she swept the now (almost) clean floor with a broom she found in the closet, which looked like it hadn't been used...ever. It was subtlety picking up dust, not even knowing it existed. All she had to do for the floor to look immaculate now was to mop it with water and a drop of soap. She though how much work she was putting into one's house which didn't belong to her. She wasn't usually this generous to...anybody. "Why him?" She wondered, dazed. At that instant she was on the brink of slipping and landing on her arse, humiliated. Fortuitously, gravity and balance was leaning towards her side.

It was the time to dust and rearrange the shelves. She was solaced that there wasn't many. Lucy set everything in the right place; the places she thought was right, and examined them again, shifting a few objects a few centimetres to the left or to the right. It was hard being a perfectionist. Natsu just found it bizarre and lightly funny, but he decided not to speak his mind. Sometimes the truth hurt. That's what his father taught him and trust was something he defiantly had for his father.

Natsu watched how Lucy moved around the house. She reminded him of Snow White—not the resemblance—who cooked and cleaned for the seven dwarves. Sure, it was only him and Happy, but however slightly, he still thought about the Snow White fable. Only more a perfectionist Snow White on a sterilisation rampage.

After taking out the garbage, scrubbing the windows, cleaning the cat litter, placing the books in alphabetical order (a bit too much), and airing out the house, Lucy had forgotten all about the owner of it. She was in her own different world, even after completing her task. After a few minutes she snapped out of it, remembering about the man on the couch, scribbling a bunch of incomprehensible words, looking rather dishevelled and awfully concentrated on the task in hand: remembering each step to keep a house clean...to precision and transcending everything Natsu thought he knew about keeping a house sterile.

" *pant* Now that's how you do it." Lucy declared proudly, slightly out of breath. It was not surprising, considering how little amount of time it took to complete each task.

"Wow, thanks. I was not expecting you to be so...committed. I don't think I will be able to do that good of a job." He complemented her, grinning ear to ear, patting Happy on the head. The tips of Lucy's ears flashed red out of flattery. Every girl loved to be complemented. They couldn't help being happy.

"It was my pleasure to help a friend..." The word _friend_ rolled off her tongue so ordinarily. It was nice.

"Now I have to help you some way." Natsu said, stroking his chin with his left hand, pondering.

"You're going to help me get to that town. Then I'll be able to call a tow truck and get back into civilisation." Deep down, both friends felt quite sad, knowing that they might not encounter each other ever again after that day. Lucy lived in Montreal and Natsu in Newfoundland's dense wood. They were—as you can say—worlds apart, and Nastu was sure to not have a car. They couldn't call it a long term relationship for they were not dating. But now they became friends, the term could still be set into account, and everyone knows they never work out.

"Yeah...I'll help you get out of the woods...but you're going to stay a little while longer right?" He asked once again, staring at her with pleading puppy dog eyes. It was tough for Lucy to say no. The couple was doing the wrong thing, getting attached to each other knowing they had to separate soon. It was like a tragic Brother's Grimm story.

"Sure, but I told you before...only for a bit longer." Not to feel any heart ache (as much as she could have about someone she had just met) the blonde thought about her dream; becoming a known writer, and before accomplishing her goal, she had to publish something first, then go back to Montreal...where her apartment was situated. " _Maybe I can move..."_ She then scoffed at the ridiculous idea. She didn't know why thoughts and worry kept rambling on in her brain. She was blowing everything out of proportion, something she didn't do often. "If you're asking me to stay longer...what did you have in mind to do. I'm kind of bored right now?" Noticing they were now sitting in silence, not doing anything important.

"Sometimes its good to just sit back and relax, not thinking about anything but nothing. You don't have to do something all the time. Now it's Happy and I's turn to show you something; to relax and not worry." Natsu just lay on his hammock placing his hands on the back of his head whilst Happy reposed on the window pane. They looked almost comatose. Instead of relaxing like the other two, her nervousness increased. She stayed sitting upright on the couch fiddling immensely with her keys.

She could only sit still for a couple of minutes before beginning to burst. She mind followed by her body was telling her to do something. She decided to make up a random story in her head about a shepherd and his flock...of cats? Strangely, she made the shepherd Natsu, for some unknown reason :

_Dusk rose, sun hiding mystically from view as a young shepherd led his herd of sheep into a run-down derelict cathedral for the night. The energetic, fearless handsome almost adult had a large responsibility immensely packed on his shoulders; being the sole care taker of a large amount of blue cats. They were not the brightest mammals of the bunch so they looked up to their master, following his lead. Trust was an important piece in the relationship between shepherds and their meowing litter. From the pink haired boy trusting the furry felines not to steal his fish dinner to the blue cats trusting Natsu to feed them aquatic creatures once in a while. When all the cats had entered, Natsu closed the wooden door, keeping the felines from the fangs of carnivorously dangerous dragons. Without the molten fire spewing from their mouths or they skin crawling roar, they would appear like shadows in the night; invisible, swooping down and catching their prey with their sharp claws..._

Lucy found the story entertaining, knowing the reality of the subject impossible. Although that was the case, she still found it easy to imagine. She glanced to Natsu's unmoving body. She saw him wide awake looking at her intensively. She looked away, finding the stare heart warming. Lucy tried to get back into her made up Fairy Tale, but she couldn't concentrate because of Natsu's stares. The key holder was bored once again, after ten minutes.

"Can we do something else other than nothing. Anything is better than this" Lucy whined, going up to Natsu and rocking his hammock roughly, almost knocking his off it. Natsu started to go a odd shade of green.

"OK, OK! Just stop rocking my hammock...I don't feel too good." Natsu replied weakly, putting a hand over his mouth. The boy had a bad case of motion sickness.

"Sorry!" Lucy apologised.

"I'm fine. What do you want to do Luce?" The colour in Natsu's face came back when he stepped off the swaying hammock.

"Well..."


	5. The Journey To Oz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy Heartfilia's car broke down and she is now lost, roaming around in the dark woods, alone. Dismally, something is lurking in the shadows within close proximity. Is it an animal, person...or dragon? What happens when both of them are pushed into a magical realm? (Intertwining Fairy Tales) AU

_Lions and tigers and bears...Oh my!_

"Well...why don't we read one of your many books? They seem...interesting and...different." Lucy mentioned, trying to find the right words to describe his Fairy Tale books. She started to walk up to the many book filled shelves, finding the perfect one. Then she trailed her finger along the stems of the literary collection.

"Why don't I choose one for you? I know every book in my library." Natsu suggested, getting closer to his friend. However, Lucy wanted to pick one herself, he didn't know her preferences.

She shook her head lightly. "No, sit back and let me choose. I want to find one...Let's see..." She kept eying each book carefully, taking one out a couple of times to read the synopsis. After a few minutes, one large colourful book sparked her interest. It was placed on the highest shelf, and Lucy was too small to reach it.

Natsu was about to get it for her, seeing her struggling, but the blonde had too much pride, not wanting his help. The man simply shrugged, stepping back and letting Lucy continue.

To resolve her problem; to be able to reach the book, she started to step on the lowest shelf, giving her enough boost and height to bring the book into her hands. Just as her fingers touched the leather that embraced the book, the bookshelf leaned forward, crashing to the floor. Nothing held it to the wall so the extra pressure from Lucy's body made it crumble.

A squeal was heard from the blonde's mouth as she protected her visage from the danger and debris to come. She could hear Natsu shout her name, running towards her to push her out of the way, instead of being flattened by the large wooden furnisher.

Lucy had closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Somehow, waiting to get crushed, did not happen. She felt arms around her then crashing to the floor. More like falling on someone hard and muscled; she fell on Natsu barely getting away. At least he was softer than the hardwood floor.

There was a loud 'thud' then an 'ouch' coming from both parties.

Lucy opened her eyes, seeing Natsu's face opposing hers closely. Sprawled across him, she scrambled off him, after looking into his black eyes for what seemed like forever. She couldn't help herself, she felt his warm breath on her skin and his alluring eyes kept looking into her soul.

Natsu noticed that her lips had almost brushed against his own, but Lucy got off him, just in time. However his heart seemed agitated, like it was deprived of something important. The confused boy did not have an understanding of what he felt. He was oblivious of the fact why his heart had skipped a beat, or he felt his face warming up.

"Are you ok Lucy?" He rushed up onto his feet, inspecting from afar Lucy's body for any scratches or bruises of any sort. He was relieved when she looked positively fine. It seemed she was also inspecting him, with worry on her face.

"I should be asking you that! You were the one who I fell on top of...quite roughly." She exclaimed.

"I'm fine, look I am made of steel." He took Lucy's right hand, placing it on his upper chest, leaving the beet root Lucy to gasp, taking her hand away like she had just touched something scorching hot.

"Geeze Natsu, don't ever do that again!" She hit him hard out of anxiety mixed with anger, hurting her hand more than Natsu. Poor Natsu didn't get her one bit, he was just showing her that he was not hurt. He didn't want her to worry.

"What did I do?!" He whined, touching the arm Lucy had punched flimsily.

"If you don't know, don't you dare think I'm going to tell you Natsu Dragneel!" She screamed, making Happy jump, hissing at her angrily. It was never a good idea to wake up a cat while it was sleeping. Eyes being clawed out was a gruesome event to watch.

"You're such a weirdo Lucy." He declared puzzled. It was a mistake to tell her that since she looked even more furious now.

"ARRGH! Sometimes you are so—" Lucy then seemed out of it, pointing to the crashed bookcase. "Natsu...have you ever moved your bookcase?" She asked with a confused soft tone.

"No, it had been there since I was born. Never remember it not being there. Why? Lucy what's wrong?" He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Look for yourself." With her hand, she moved his head toward the same spot she was staring at.

Protruding from the wall the bookcase had hidden, was a safe. A thick, square, steel safe. Natsu's jaw hung open. Was it his father's? Must have been. The question rattling around in his brain was... Is there still something inside?

The couple went up to the safe, still shocked.

"With that look, I can see you did not know it was there." The blonde chuckled, watching Natsu examine the safe.

"I had absolutely no idea...hmmm...how do we get inside?" He said more to himself. Stupidly, he was just about to use an axe on it, but Lucy stopped him in time.

"Idiot! That won't work! Why don't we try and find the combination to unlock it?" She said. "Now." She cracked the joints of her fingers. "Could you think of what the combination could be?" She asked the pink haired man.

He scratched his scalp. "I don't know...this must be my father's safe, so I have no idea." He answered.

Lucy pondered, scratching her chin thoughtfully. "What about your birthday?...wait, too many numbers." They both stood there, focusing the task at hand. Lucy was having fun, realising how mysterious this was. It was like she was in one of her favorite mystery novels.

Natsu gulped, thinking he knew what the combination was. It seemed not to make sense, but he had to try. "Try 7, 7, 7...the day my father left me." His voice cracked a bit as he spoke, making Lucy furrow her brow, nodding.

She cranked the nob. "...click...click...click..." They heard something from inside the mechanism latch open. It had worked like a charm.

"It opened...do we look inside?" Lucy asked, not knowing what Natsu wanted to do.

She only saw Natsu nod slowly, and she stepped back, letting him do the honors. Turning the handle, he swallowed a large amount of bile down his throat, sweating immensely. The nervousness overwhelmed him; he didn't know what he was going to discover on the other side. A letter addressed to him? A stash of money? Jewellery? A large piece of steak?

The hinges from the safe creaked open, revealing a most bizarre and wrongly placed object. A book; a large stash of papers sown together and enveloped by a beautiful jewel encrusted cover and back. The couple didn't know how to react. What was a book doing behind the bookshelf, safely hidden away? Was it that precious?

A few minutes later, the dusty old book sat on the coffee table with two curious humans facing it. They didn't know if they should touch it again, distraught that it would crumble to pieces or the ink fade away. At first glance it seemed centuries old, mainly because it was caked in dust bunnies and skin particles.

"Should we touch it? I was already freaking out when we were moving it here." Lucy asked.

"I don't see the problem, it's only a book...right?" Natsu replied, not sure of himself.

"Well it's your book, you open it. I don't want to be responsible for contaminating the book." She declared, not wanting to get into any trouble...and especially owing a debt to someone.

Before lifting the cover to look inside, he inhaled a large gulp of air and exhaled, shooing the dust away. They could now read its title.

_ Your personal Fairy Tale _

_ Author: How about you open the book? _

The book seemed like it was speaking solely to Lucy and Natsu. Of course, that would be impossible.

"So what are you waiting for? Open it." Lucy nudged the pinkette's shoulder with her own.

"Ok, ok, I'm doing it." He gently opened it to the first page. That was when strange things started happening. Only the first page was covered in words, all the other pages were as white as a sheet.

Natsu began to read out loud;

_"The male opened the book, afraid to damage it, whilst the blond sat next to him waiting impatiently. They found the pages all blank except one. The boy read aloud. Their journey had commenced."_

"This is...about us!" Lucy exclaimed, flabbergasted.

"Yeah..." Natsu didn't know how to respond, all his daydreaming about Fairy Tales, dragons and magic books had finally come true. The world of happy endings and magic were real! "Luce...what does the book mean...commencing our journey?"

Before she could reply, she magical book glowed, and what seemed (and felt) like a tornado swept through the whole house, pulling then into the growing book.

"I THINK WE ARE ABOUT TO FIND OUT!" Lucy screamed wind ruffling her hair, latching onto Natsu's hand while he held onto his cat.

"LUCY! HOLD ON!" He screamed, being forcefully pulled, not being able to move freely.

"WE ARE GOING TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE...I AM STILL TOO YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL!" The blonde cried, clutching hard onto Natsu's hand.

Darkness, that's all they were succumbed to after Lucy's high pitched tearful cry. Their future was clouded, no idea what to expect next.

Lucy and Natsu groaned, along with Happy meowing groggily. With Natsu still half-unconscious, Lucy sat up, clutching her head from dizziness.

She looked around, they were sitting in a completely different forest, and on a really strange coloured path. A yellow brick road. Eye's widening, she knew where they were. It was supposed to be impossible, magic realm travelling books didn't exist.

She slapped Natsu across the face, waking him up faster.

"Why did you hit me?!" His voice trailed off when he found himself entirely out of his quaint little cottage. He sat crossed legged with a dumb look on his face, and then touched the golden bricks he sat on, like he making sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"Toto...I don't think we are in Kansas anymore." The blonde mumbled, reciting a quote from the book she had read more than she could count. She always loved the story with the girl named Dorothy and her little black dog Toto. She always envied Dorothy when she was a child, wanting desperately to have her flashy ruby red shoes. A vivid imagination was what she had.

"No kidding...WE'RE IN THE WIZARD OF OZ!" Natsu jumped up, smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"I know...we probably just bumped our head and are still in your house. Or maybe I am in Montreal, in my cozy dirt cheap apartment, dreaming..." Lucy kept rambling on, panicking.

"I don't think this is a dream weirdo. Don't you see? We can go on an awesome adventure!" He bellowed, his attitude not changing one bit; albeit they were sucked inside a magical book and were now in the Land of Oz.

"I don't know how you can act so calm." The blonde shook her head. Lucy hoped there were no flying monkeys around, they creeped her out.


	6. If you only had Half a Brain

**_Wicked Witch of the West:_ ** _Nooooo! I'm melting! I'm melting!_

Lucy was distraught; Natsu wouldn't stop hugging her out of extreme euphoria. Him embracing her excitingly was agreeable for a couple of minutes, but it got out of hand when he kept latching onto her without any thoughts of letting go. It was like the salmon haired boy was in a trance of pure heavenly delight while spinning Lucy around playfully and without her lawfully logical consent.

Lucy, on the other hand, was not as overly joyed. She wished to go home, to keep living the life she had been accustomed to and adored thoroughly (until getting lost in the forest that is). She didn't mind having met Natsu, but getting lost in the forest was never anybody's cup of tea.

In the midst of her homesickness, there was nevertheless, another part of her excited for the mind-boggling journey ahead. When she was a child, she always told her mother that she wanted to magically enter inside her bedtime Fairy Tale stories, which her mother had read to her every night...until she died when Lucy was in fourth grade. Her mother was never very healthy and had a fragile body. One day, her body gave out, it was rather tragic; principally for Lucy and her father. He was never the same again...his new hobby was making as much money possible with his large multi-million company and new best friend a bottle of Whiskey . Lucy was never his first propriety. Pushing her sad childhood memories aside, she thought about happier things.

No more needing to go inside the heads of the characters theoretically. Now she was there physically; she was now the heroine herself...she hoped. A villain she was not.

Strength re-entered her body and soreness entered; Natsu had eventually let go of her. A bit too long for her taste, but it was not everyday people get sucked into a book. Stretching her upper limbs and back—for she was sure he pulled some of her muscles whilst jumping up and down with her in his arms—no clue what to do next. She had to put herself into Dorothy's shoes (the ruby red ones that never really matched well with her outfit). What would Dorothy do? If Lucy remembered the book correctly, the girl and her little black dog would follow the yellow brick road, while singing merrily. _"Or was that the movie?"_ The young woman pondered, not sure. It wasn't important at the time, so she let it slide.

"Come on Natsu, let's follow the yellow bri—" She stopped mid-sentence when she observed rather slowly that Natsu's clothes had mysteriously changed. She looked down at herself...so had hers.

"Lucy, how did you change so fast?" Natsu asked rather obtusely, not using the logic he had stuffed in his brain, scattered somewhere.

"I don't know, but so have you!" She pointed her finger at his new appearance, raising her thin eyebrows.

The young man now sported a checkered green long shirt along with knee length cotton blue shorts, a pair of black boots, dirty white gloves, and a rounded triangle shaped green hat covering most of the pink tuffs of his messy hair. He did however have his precious sentimental checkered scarf around his neck, luckily for him. Pieces of straw poked out from every directions, coming out from under his clothing.

Lucy could not stop her laughter from coming out loudly. In the Wizard Of Oz, he had been turned into the Scarecrow. He was still human, but the ensemble he was donning was surely the Scarecrow's clothes.

"Pfttt! Being the scarecrow suits you well Natsu!" The honey blonde exclaimed playfully, pestering him, making her friend's cheeks puff up angrily.

"Why is that Luce?" With a hard dry tone. Still mad, he didn't want to be the Scarecrow. He would rather be the lion, albeit he was called the Cowardly Lion, but Natsu needn't know.

"Because, sometimes it seems that you have straw stashed inside your brain!" She told him, receiving an icy cold glare. "Ok, ok. On a few occasions it seems you only have half a brain!" This time she tried whole-heartedly not to giggle in the slightest; it didn't work. Tears were forming in her eyes. Natsu had been right, she was having a blast in this other world.

"Yeah! Well...at least I'm not Dorothy!" He exclaimed pointing at Lucy's attire, trying to dis her back, failing miserably. What girl would not want to be the heroine from Kansas who saved the Land Of Oz (more importantly the Emerald City and, Munchkin Land) from the Wicked Witch of the West?

"Yesss! I'm Dorothy! Thank you book! So happy that I'm not one of those flying monkeys or the Tin Man. I already have a heart thank you very much!" She stated, admiring her new attire with a sparkle in her eyes that showed her fondness for the beautiful dress she was wearing (it wasn't actually expensive or even that beautiful, but it was the exact dress Dorothy wore, so it was outstanding from Lucy's point of view).

A blue checkered knee high dress with a white fabric along the top of her chest, shoulders and a quarter of her arm, hugged her body comfortably. Two baby blue ribbons tied her hair in a loose ponytail, flowing in the front of her body, stopping below her bust. She was overjoyed, almost everything was blue; that was her favorite colour. Her hair was still blonde ( she didn't want to become a brunette anyway). Lastly was her favorite, along with white ankle socks were ruby red shoes. **The** Ruby Red shoes.

A pang hit her heart, her keys! Where were her keys? She felt her own body, searching her clothes. A breath escaped her lips, they were in her dress pocket. It seemed only their clothes changed, not the items they had on them.

"Luce, do you know where Happy is? I'm sure I saw him not even a few minutes ago." He mumbled, looking high and low for his blue cat.

"Meow" The couple heard, oddly from up above. They looked up seeing something perhaps more weirder than pigs flying. They perceived Happy, flying in the air, wings attached to its back. The little blue cat had been turned into one of the flying monkeys...or flying cats to be exact.

"Cool! Happy's flying!" Natsu laughed amused by the sudden change in his cat. The magic book had made his pet/best friend into the fictional character of one of the flying monkeys. How Natsu longed to be in his place. He wanted to fly, not be the brainless scarecrow.

"Well, that's something I would never think to see." She answered, giggling along with Natsu. The blonde then turned to the boy, slipping her arm into his. "Well, mister Scarecrow, how about we follow the yellow brick road?"

Natsu snickered, not enjoying being called Scarecrow. Then he ignored what she called him and replied, "Right beside you, my fellow maiden."

They started walking along the path, chatting about The Wizard Of Oz story, telling each other about their favourite parts.

"Oh, and I always loved little Toto. I always pictured him as a cute fluffy black dog." Lucy continuing the conversation.

"Yeah, even though he was small, I always portrayed him as brave. Hey, isn't Toto supposed to be with Dorothy at all times? And, well, you're Dorothy." The pinkette said.

"You're right Natsu."She realised. The woman wanted to add " _I suppose you have a brain after all."_ But she restrained herself, she had already made that joke. No use in saying it again.

"Puu-Puun" A strange noise erupted next to fake-Dorothy's feet. They looked down slowly.

A little white creature that looked like a dog mixed with a snowman looked up at both of the gawking friends. It was shaking, making it look like it was cold. It had a spherical head with an orange nose that had the same similarities as a carrot, along with two black adorable eyes and cute paws. If it was a canine, it had no tail for no obvious reasons. The creature was something...strange.

"Is that supposed to be Toto? Wow, he looks different than usual." Lucy proclaimed, kneeling down and patting its head. Happy landed (he was still flying), seemingly enjoying his new found friend, for he was purring happily. Happy had the same trait as Natsu: making friends a little too rapidly. "Oh! Happy likes him already!" She said pleased.

"That can't be Toto! It's...it's a snowman!" Natsu objected, leaning closer to the dog/snowman for a better inspection; squeezing it's nose, poking its body, lifting up its paws, and so on.

"No, no, no, no...it's plain to see that he's a dog! So from now on we will call him Toto." Lucy decided, not even contemplating if Natsu could be right.

"How do you know it's male? It might as well be female for all we know." Natsu remarked, fed up looking like the one who was always wrong. Lucy could really be stubborn sometimes, and think she was always right, but it just made her all the more interesting...for Natsu that is. For some people, she would probably get on their nerves.

"Because he's Toto, and in the book Dorothy's dog is male." The young woman responded matter-of-factly.

The pink headed boy scratched his head, knowing he was not going to win this argument , so he decided to quit before getting into a deeper hole. "Fine, let's just _say_ it's Toto then" He emphasized the word 'say'.

"But it **is** Toto!" She crossed her arms.

"Whatever." Natsu only said, shaking his head and walking ahead with Lucy running to catch him and Happy along with Toto tailing behind.

With their little spat behind them, they continued down the famous literary road, hoping it would head somewhere: Munchkin Land, Emerald City, the Tin Man's woodcutter house, anywhere was fine.

"Do you think we'll have to destroy the Wicked Witch of the West? It will be easy for we only have to pour water on her. Or maybe this story has already ended." Lucy pondered, wanting to know Natsu's opinion.

"I have no idea...but I guess we'll find out!" He declared, showing his signature grin whilst scratching his skin for the straw on and under his clothes irritated him.

"ROAAR!" Only this time, it wasn't Natsu sneezing.

It wasn't hard to know what...who it was. It must be the Cowardly Lion, Lucy thought to herself. It was, but not as cowardly as both of the friends would think.

Appearing in front of the fearless blond was a man a bit higher that Natsu. With orange brown medium cut hair, casual clothes and dark faded glasses. He also had a couple of earrings on his left ear.

"Good afternoon my love, Leo the lion at your service, but by all means call me Loki." The man said with affection, bowing down on one knee and kissing the back of her hand.

"Oh...it...it's a pleasure." Lucy replied, swayed by his personality. This was indeed the Lion, but cowardly was not the word to describe him; he was more of the flirtatiously courageous kind.

Natsu was not enjoying the new person entering the picture, and the numerous smiles his blonde friend and Loki were giving each other. He decided to do something about it, his way.

"Lucy, don't trust this smarmy guy! There's something off about him, I can smell it." He told Lucy, ignoring Loki, pointing to his nose.

"Don't be rude. He's just being a gentleman." She then whispered the next part to him. "Anyway, he is the Lion. I know, different than expected, but still the Lion."

The blonde turned to Leo, smiling sweetly, asking. "Do you know what's down this road?"

"Of course milady, if you walk another thirty minutes you will reach the borders of Munchkin Land, and twenty minutes after that you will arrive at the Lollypop Guild headquarters. May I take you there myself?" He asked.

"No thank you. We don't need **your** help." Natsu cut in, a mean look in his eyes, aimed directly at the Lion.

Lucy bonked him on the head. "What's wrong with you!" She then turned to Loki. "Don't listen to him, we'll be honored."

As they started walking, Leo cast a smug look at Natsu, silently telling him to back off. It was final, the dragon boy hated lions. Especially pompous ones. That jerk was not going to take his Lucy away.


End file.
